The Mermaid's Kiss
by AtlanticaDream
Summary: This is the story of how a certain prince first met a certain mermaid. Only the prince is not a prince for long, and the mermaid lives in a very dark ocean indeed. Will true love break the curse of the mermaids, or will the Mermaid's kiss take the place of True Love's Kiss in this tale?


**The Mermaid's**** Kiss**

By AtlanticaDream

**Chapter 1**

Killian's heart was broken. He had no words left, just a boiling anger inside him, where his heart used to be. He vowed to himself that he would not rest until he got his revenge on Rumpelstiltskin.

A great green vortex appeared in front of the ship, the water swirled to form a whirlpool.

As the ship went into the swirling green vortex the pirates could no longer hear themselves think over the roaring of the water. Hook prayed to the Gods that he would survive long enough to bring about the death of Rumpelstiltskin. As the ship crashed through the portal to the other side Hook flew off the ship and landed with a splash in to the cool blue-green water. 'Bullocks' he thought, his boots were still on. To make matters worse he soon realized he was no longer able to swim, his hook cut uselessly through the open water. He desperately clawed at the water with his good hand, fighting the burning in is throat and the blurring of his vision. After a minute of this struggle Hook realized it was no use, he was going to die. He stopped fighting and took comfort that although he had not avenged Milah, he would be with her again soon. He closed his eyes, and felt her slender arms wrap around him and pull him up towards the heavens.

* * *

"Ariel, no! He's a human! You know you are breaking the law!" cried Sebastian.

Ariel laughed, she'd been breaking the law since she was a little girl. She thought sadly of the boy she had met on one of her first adventures. She had snuck past the guards that blocked the entrance to the waters surrounding the Enchanted Forest. There she had come across a boy of about 12, a few years her senior. He had dark hair, and green eyes. She looked from a distance the first few days she came, discovering that he was a young prince much like she was a princess herself. He however, appeared free. She was bound by the body that she had been given, that hungered for death. It was the curse of the mermaids, they were cursed to pull sailors, swimmers, and other unlucky travelers to their watery graves. Her sisters and the other mermaids thought this was all great fun, becoming creative and luring men into the water, their blood lust was not satisfied with the odd unlucky man who would fall into the sea by chance; they loved watching sailors dive to their own deaths to be with them. Ariel chose to refer to her plight as the humans did, as a curse. She loved humans, and she was terrified of the day her Blood Day came.

Upon her meeting of young prince Eric, she had not yet turned eighteen; the blood lust had not yet taken over her. She dreaded when he splashed into the water though, fearing it would trigger early.

However, Ariel had known that her day was coming and that soon she would become a savage just like her kin. This gave her courage to talk to this human, just once, to learn about their ways while she still could.

"Hello," she had called, to which the startled boy turned around and grinned.

"Hello there!" he had called, and just like that their friendship had blossomed, and time had flown by for Ariel, as she knew it could not last forever. While at first he was taken aback by her tail (she had tried to hide it for as long as she could) he soon discovered that she meant him no harm. He told her of the daily hassles of being a royal, of his various adventures with his father traveling to far off lands. Ariel loved these stories, she too could venture to these lands, much more easily of course, but she was bound to the water, and everywhere she went she saw the destruction that her kind inflicted on others. To her the sand was a barrier she could look over and see wonderful things, yet could not cross. She was bound to the horror-stricken ocean. Ariel did not talk about herself much, preferring to hear tales of adventure and freedom. She mentioned other lands, particularly Neverland, where she had been born. Mermaid's Lagoon had once been a marvelous place, but after the untimely death of her mother at the hands of a human, her father had vowed that all human/mermaid contact was forbidden. He instructed the sea wizard to curse the humans so that whoever would fall into the ocean, their soul would be devoured. The mermaids were tasked with dragging their victims to the depths of the ocean, where this took place. Her father might have cursed the humans, but he had also cursed the mermaids as well. Atlantica had changed from a place full of song, to a place that was eerily quiet, with the occasional shriek of a nearby soul being ripped from its body.

So instead Ariel talked of the treasures she had come across, and of how it had once been. Eric did not ask about the present, he knew her day was coming. It was something they had both dreaded. Fearing for her friend she had went to the sea wizard's cave, the one nobody neared unless they had a body in their arms, for he loved collecting the hearts of the fallen ones. This was the first time Ariel had been in there. She came to the mirror which the wizard inhabited. She struck a deal: she would trade her voice, if she got her prince to kiss her she would be set free from the curse of the mermaids. If she didn't, she would become helpless, and be forced to give in to the blood lust that she felt bubbling inside her. She had swam to the docks looking everywhere for her prince. When she finally found him he had been crying. Eric's mother and father had arranged for Eric to be married, for he was nearing twenty. How quickly time passed in the human world, though she looked the part of her seventeen years, she would live far beyond the life of a human. Eric was in a tizzy, for he loved her, and she was all he wanted. He had arranged to leave with a sea-captain, he swore he would be back for her in three days' time. He would find a way to be with her.

"No!" Ariel's silent cry was lost in the sea breeze as the ship carrying her prince sailed away. For she knew she had not met the terms of her agreement, he would be back for her too late!

* * *

How hard is it to understand CURSE Of THE MERMAIDS thought Ariel, as she pulled the lifeless body out of the water. She felt the urge to give the mermaid's kiss, yet she held herself back, she would not do it again. She would not let that happen again.

* * *

**A/N:** This is my first time publishing something I've written, I hope you guys like it! Thanks to Margo Alaska for looking it over and giving me courage to do so! Please review and let me know what you think!


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